L sat boredly, chewing on a piece of chocolate as he examined the screen in front of him. He wiggled his bare toes and frowned deeply at the blinking graphs and numbers on the screen. He began nibbling absentmindedly at a small truffle and failed to notice light footsteps coming from behind him. The sound of Watari clearing his throat filled the silent room, but L still didn't turn to acknowledge the elderly man.
"Ryuzaki," he said, "I was wondering... Would it be unwise to recruit another member to the task force?" L shifted a bit in his seat and swallowed the chocolaty morsel he had been chewing.
"Well," L finally spoke. "Yes, that probably would help quite a bit. But I have no doubts that I could solve the Kira case on my own. Even if I couldn't, we still have many members. New blood would probably be quite helpful, but we shouldn't trouble ourselves at the moment. Besides, it's five in the morning. We can think about something like that later."
"Yes, Ryuzaki," Watari said, "I understand."

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Twenty-one-year-old Akimi Shion tossed and turned in her top bunk. She had unconsciously managed to wrap herself in the blanket so that her feet were tangled in the blue fabric and her arms were trapped in a few loops of the blanket. A couple more squirming motions, and she tumbled off the bed, crashing from ten feet above ground.
Groaning, she picked herself up, still dazed from sleep and her unexpected fall. She rubbed her aching head and dragged herself over to her window, drawing the curtains. A night sky glittering with stars was revealed, but with a glimmer of sunlight at the horizon. "Ugh..." she groaned, "I can't believe I woke up this early... And on Saturday, too!" Akimi stretched and went to her computer, deciding to work on her story.
'The deathly cold touch of the odd man sent shivers down my spine. He reached for my hand to help me up, and I gladly accepted it.'
This left Akimi at a standstill. 'ARGH!' she though, 'What should happen to Souko next? Maybe I should...'

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About five hours later, at ten in the morning, L took a small bite of shortcake as he pondered Watari's suggestion. Aizowa, Mitsuda, Chief Yagami, and Light were all in the room with him, examining the computer screen that showed Kira's recent murder trend. He glanced half heartedly at the flickering numbers and symbols as he toyed with the strawberry using his fork. Light turned to him.
"Hey, Ryu- um... Ryuzaki? What's wrong?" Light asked. L sighed as the task force turned to him.
"Nothing is wrong, I'm simply thinking."
"It doesn't look like you're thinking too hard to me. Plus, you're sitting normally."
L glanced at his legs and, sure enough, he was hunched over the table with legs forming a right angle on the edge of the chair. "It seems you're right, Light," he stated, assuming his typically sitting position, weight resting on balls of his feet as he jabbed the strawberry with his fork. "Light, I would like to speak with you. Come here," L said. He picked himself up with his hands using the arms of his chair, swung forward, and leapt off the chair. He slouched, walking out of the room, with Light tailing.
"So, what is it, Ryuzaki?" Light asked. L scratched his scruffy black hair.
"Well, assuming you aren't Kira, I have a question for you."
"What kind of question do you mean?"
"Well... It's more like I need... advice."
"Advice?"
"Yes. Watari recently suggested something rather... intriguing."
"What?"
"Well... He was thinking that we should recruit another member to the task force. All the police are either afraid or incapable, we can't ask too much of the government, the army is simply out of the question for obvious reasons, so we would have to recruit a normal person. I was thinking about going with. Do you have any suggestions for who we might recruit? You were a typical college student before this, so you must know someone." Light seemed to be a bit shocked, but he thought a bit.
"Well, there is Mari Shibun, but she's in India right now. Studying abroad. She would've definitely been able to do it, though, because she was always the first one to solve any deductive reasoning questions in math. She was also always the first one to solve the mystery when we read mystery novels in class. She would figure out Sherlock Holmes mysteries by about one fifth of the rising action. She would've been able to do the job amazingly."
"But you just said she's studying abroad in India."
"Yeah... Well, there's also Akimi Shion."
"Akimi?"
"Yeah. She's living in Osaka with her family right now. We could call her over easily. She's an author right now, and she writes mystery novels. Akimi was great with riddles and puzzles, and she is amazing when it comes to piecing clues together. She's great at things like that. I could call her right now, if you want. She's an old friend of mine, and I have her on my contacts."
"No, no. Give me her number. I'd like to speak to her myself and use my phone. That way I have my voice synthesizer, and it'll be much more convincing. I doubt anyone would believe it if their best friend from high school called all of a sudden and said, 'Hey! A detective named L wants you to solve the Kira case with us!' You know?"
Light laughed a bit. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'll input her number into your phone." L handed Light his phone and Light pressed a few buttons before handing the phone back to L. L pressed the contact and held the phone up to his ear in his typical odd manner. Someone picked up, and a light, feminine voice said, "Hello?"

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Akimi picked up her ringing phone. She looked at the caller ID, but all it had was staticy looking junk and a message underneath that read, 'This number cannot be displayed'. She flipped the light green phone and asked, "Hello? Who is this?"
A synthesized voice replied with, "Hello, Akimi Shion. I am L." Akimi stifled a laugh.
"Alright, alright," she said, "which one of you is it this time? Kiyo? Shirugi? Who's pranking me now?"
"No one is pranking you, Miss Akimi. I am the detective L. I'm sure you've heard of me, as I am investigating the Kira case." Akimi frowned.
"Yeah, right," she said, annoyed. "And why exactly would L of all people want to call me?"
"Because I know your friend, Light Yagami. We would like you to join the Kira investigation as an official member of the task force."
"Sure. Uh huh."
"Do you want proof?"
"Of course."
The sound of a phone being passed and an odd mechanical snap was heard, before Light's destinctive voice was on the other end. "Hey, Akimi. It's been a while. Just so you know, this really isn't a prank. I told L- I mean Ryuzaki, about how good you are with crime solving and investigation skills, and we want you to join."
"Le what?"
"You heard me."
"Um... Wow. So... um... Okay, I guess."
Another snap was heard, and the synthesized voice of L came through again. "Think over this very carefully, alright Akimi? This is very dangerous. One wrong move could get you killed. As much as we would like to recruit you, we must be very careful about who we choose. Think about it for a moment. If you agree to join us, you will be putting your life at risk and Kira won't hesitate to kill you if he finds out your name. If you aren't absolutely positive, say no. I will call you in three days. That should be enough time to make a decision. Goodbye."
Dialtone.
Akimi shivered as a chill rushed through the room.
Kira.
Kira.
Kira.
"I'll do it..."